Pineapple Poll
Encyclopedia
Pineapple Poll is a Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...

-inspired comic ballet
Comic ballet
Comic ballet is a subcategory of ballet, and denotes a dramatic work of a light or comic nature.Comic ballets include:* Cinderella* Coppélia* Don Quixote* La Fille Mal Gardée* Pineapple Poll* Pirates of Penzance - The Ballet!...

, created by choreographer John Cranko
John Cranko
John Cyril Cranko was a choreographer with the Sadler's Wells Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet....

 with arranger
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...

 Sir Charles Mackerras
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan...

. Pineapple Poll is based on "The Bumboat Woman's Story", one of W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...

's Bab Ballads
Bab Ballads
The Bab Ballads are a collection of light verse by W. S. Gilbert, illustrated with his own comic drawings. Gilbert wrote the Ballads before he became famous for his comic opera librettos with Arthur Sullivan...

, written in 1870. The Gilbert and Sullivan opera H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...

was also based, in part, on this story. For the ballet, Cranko expanded the story of the Bab Ballad and added a happy ending.

The piece premiered in 1951 at Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...

 and was given many revivals internationally during the following decades. It remains in the repertoire of the Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Royal Ballet is one of the three major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet and the English National Ballet....

. It has also been recorded many times.

Background and productions

The copyright on Sullivan's music expired in 1950, and Mackerras, then assistant conductor and repetiteur for Sadler's Wells Opera, aware of the successful ballets based on Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....

 and Strauss - Gaîté Parisienne
Gaîté Parisienne
Gaîté parisienne is a 1938 ballet based on music by Jacques Offenbach, arranged by Manuel Rosenthal. The ballet had the original title of Tortoni, after a Paris café, but Rosenthal recalled that Count Étienne de Beaumont, the ballet's librettist, later came up with the ballet's eventual...

and Le Beau Danube - felt a similar arrangement of the music of Sullivan would be equally popular. Peggy van Praagh
Peggy van Praagh
Dame Margaret "Peggy" van Praagh, DBE had a long and distinguished career in ballet as a dancer, choreographer, teacher, producer, advocate and director.-Dancing:...

 suggested that he work out the idea with the young choreographer John Cranko. Cranko expanded the plot of Gilbert's Bab Ballad "The Bumboat Woman's Story", in which the central character is named Poll Pineapple. The Gilbert and Sullivan opera H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...

(especially its character Little Buttercup) was also based, in part, on this story. Cranko introduced new characters (Mrs Dimple) and gave Poll an admirer to enable a happy ending. Mackerras arranged the score of Pineapple Poll from the music of Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...

, relying on the Gilbert and Sullivan repertoire, as well as Sullivan's comic opera
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...

 Cox and Box
Cox and Box
Cox and Box; or, The Long-Lost Brothers, is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by F. C. Burnand and music by Arthur Sullivan, based on the 1847 farce Box and Cox by John Maddison Morton. It was Sullivan's first successful comic opera. The story concerns a landlord who lets a room to two...

(written with F. C. Burnand
Francis Burnand
Sir Francis Cowley Burnand , often credited as F. C. Burnand, was an English comic writer and dramatist....

), and Sullivan's Overture di Ballo
Overture di Ballo
The Overture di Ballo is a concert overture by Arthur Sullivan. Its first performance was in August 1870 at the Birmingham Triennial Festival, conducted by the composer. It predates all his work with W. S...

. Mackerras knew the Savoy Opera
Savoy opera
The Savoy Operas denote a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house...

s well, as he had played oboe in a pit orchestra in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, where all of the extant Gilbert and Sullivan operas were played except for Utopia Limited and The Grand Duke
The Grand Duke
The Grand Duke; or, The Statutory Duel, is the final Savoy Opera written by librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan, their fourteenth and last opera together. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on March 7, 1896, and ran for 123 performances...

, and those operas are not represented in Pineapple Poll.

Pineapple Poll premiered on 13 March 1951 at Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...

 by the Sadler's Wells Ballet as part of the Festival of Britain
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...

. It was part of a complete evening of Cranko ballets. At the suggestion of John Piper, the production was designed by Sir Osbert Lancaster
Osbert Lancaster
Sir Osbert Lancaster, CBE was an English cartoonist, author, art critic and stage designer, best known to the public at large for his cartoons published in the Daily Express.-Biography:Lancaster was born in London, England...

, who later designed the 1971 D'Oyly Carte
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...

 production of The Sorcerer
The Sorcerer
The Sorcerer is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duo's third operatic collaboration. The plot of The Sorcerer is based on a Christmas story, An Elixir of Love, that Gilbert wrote for The Graphic magazine in 1876...

. The ballet was later produced by the Borovansky Ballet
Edouard Borovansky
Edouard Borovansky was a Czech- born Australian ballet dancer, choreographer and director. After touring with Anna Pavlova's company, he and his wife settled in Australia where they established the Borovansky Ballet company...

 in 1954, Covent Garden in 1959, National Ballet of Canada
National Ballet of Canada
The National Ballet of Canada is Canada's largest ballet troupe. It was founded by Celia Franca in 1951 and is based in Toronto, Ontario. Based upon the unity of Canadian trained dancers in the tradition and style of England's Royal Ballet, The National is regarded as one of the premier classical...

 in 1959, the Joffrey Ballet
Joffrey Ballet
The Joffrey Ballet is a dance company in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1956. From 1995 to 2004, the company was known as The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. The company regularly performs classical ballets including Romeo & Juliet and The Nutcracker, while balancing those classics with pioneering modern...

 in 1970, Noverre Ballet in 1972 and Oslo Ballet in 1975. In recent years, the ballet has fallen out of the professional repertory in the U.S., although there was a revival in 2004 by Spectrum Dance Theater of Seattle, with new choreography by Donald Byrd. In the UK, the ballet remains in the repertoire of the Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Royal Ballet is one of the three major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet and the English National Ballet....

, with a run of performances in 2006 and 2007 and a tour, including to Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...

, in 2011.

The score, or excerpts from it, has been recorded at least seven times, including four performances conducted by Mackerras himself. In The Music of Arthur Sullivan (1959, p. 161), Gervase Hughes wrote, "Although the orchestration is disfigured by over-reliance on glissando harps and succulent counter-subjects for the horns, much of the music comes over well in its new guise, and the combination of a melody from the opening chorus of Patience
Patience (opera)
Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. First performed at the Opera Comique, London, on 23 April 1881, it moved to the 1,292-seat Savoy Theatre on 10 October 1881, where it was the first theatrical production in the...

with the second act quintet from The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances , closing on 30 June 1891...

is quite brilliant."

Scene 1

H.M.S. Hot Cross Bun has arrived in Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

, and the sailors, who are on shore leave
Shore leave
Shore leave is the leave that professional sailors get to spend on dry land. It is culturally infamous for its excess. Sailors without family obligations and with basic lodging needs provided aboard ship may spend their wages for the journey in a brief period of extravagance ashore and return to...

, meet some pretty town's girls whom they like. Pineapple Poll then arrives with a basket of flowers. The sailors buy the flowers from Pineapple Poll to give to their girlfriends, some doing so reluctantly. Jasper, the 'pot boy' at the local Inn, serves drinks to some of the sailors. Jasper is very interested in Pineapple Poll, but she haughtily rejects his proferred love.

Captain Belaye of H.M.S. Hot Cross Bun then arrives, and the sailors are horrified when their girlfriends swoon at the sight of the Captain. The sailors attempt to stop the girls, without success. Pineapple Poll also tries to capture the Captain's attention, but she does not have Jasper's restraining hand to stop her. When Captain Belaye is finally left alone, a girl (Blanche) arrives with her aunt (Mrs. Dimple). It is love at first sight for both the Captain and Blanche. Mrs. Dimple is initially opposed to the Captain's interest in her niece, but she finally relents.

When Captain Belaye returns to the port, the town's girls and Pineapple Poll once again try to capture his interest. Captain Belaye manages to escape from the girls with much difficulty, and the girls are then left sighing after the Captain, while the members of his crew vent their anger against him.

Scene 2

It is nightfall, and some 'sailors' go up the gangplank to board the ship. Pineapple Poll arrives on the wharf with some naval clothes in which she then dresses herself (off-stage), following which Pineapple Poll also then goes up the gangplank to the ship.

Jasper arrives at the wharf and is devastated to find Pineapple Poll's clothes. He mistakenly assumes that Pineapple Poll has drowned. Despondently, he gathers up Pineapple Poll's clothing and leaves.

Scene 3

The following morning, on board H.M.S. Hot Cross Bun, Captain Belaye is taking his 'crew' through drill. Although his 'crew' is dressed in the usual ship's uniforms, they are far smaller in build than usual – however, the Captain does not seem to realise that there is a disparity in their heights. The uniform which Pineapple Poll is wearing is not a uniform which a sailor would wear on board H.M.S. Hot Cross Bun, and she continually exercises en pointe
En pointe
En pointe means "on the tip" and is a part of classical ballet technique, usually practised using specially reinforced shoes called pointe shoes or toe shoes. The technique developed from the desire for dancers to appear weightless and sylph-like and has evolved to enable dancers to dance on the...

, but the Captain appears oblivious to anything unusual about her as well. Captain Belaye also does not notice that his 'sailors' are looking up adoringly at him. When the cannon is fired, he is surprised at the reaction of the 'sailors', including Pineapple Poll (who faints at the sound). A church bell then tolls in the distance, and the Captain leaves the ship. A short while later, the Captain returns to the ship with Blanche (who is dressed as a bride) and Mrs. Dimple. The 'crew' all faint with shock. Pineapple Poll is the first to recover and to demonstrate to Captain Belaye that she is female. Then the other 'sailors' demonstrate that they, too, are female. Blanche is horrified, as is her aunt, at the ship's crew all being girls, and the Captain looks stunned.

The ship's genuine crew then arrive, as does Jasper. The sailors are very annoyed with their girlfriends, and the girls have to coax and cajole the sailors to take them back. Jasper has a tougher time with Pineapple Poll, who is still hankering after the Captain.

Belaye, who has now been promoted to the rank of Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...

, returns to the deck with his bride, Blanche, and Blanche's Aunt, Mrs. Dimple. Pineapple Poll swoons at the sight of the Admiral, much to Jasper's distress. Mrs. Dimple calls to Jasper and then gives him the Admiral's former Captain's attire. Jasper puts on the Captain's hat and coat – and becomes the new Captain of H.M.S. Hot Cross Bun as a result (even though Jasper has never been a sailor), and Pineapple Poll's affections and interest are immediately transferred from the Admiral to Jasper. The sailors of H.M.S. Hot Cross Bun are most displeased that the 'pot boy' has suddenly been elevated to be their Captain, and they openly show their disdain for him.

All of the girls then return to the ship's deck, wearing their own clothes, and are welcomed back by their delighted boyfriends. The girls swoon at the sight of Jasper in his new Captain's uniform, but this time the sailors are able to keep their girlfriends in check, and all ends happily.

Ballet music

Music for the ballet is taken from eleven of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, Cox and Box
Cox and Box
Cox and Box; or, The Long-Lost Brothers, is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by F. C. Burnand and music by Arthur Sullivan, based on the 1847 farce Box and Cox by John Maddison Morton. It was Sullivan's first successful comic opera. The story concerns a landlord who lets a room to two...

and the Overture di Ballo
Overture di Ballo
The Overture di Ballo is a concert overture by Arthur Sullivan. Its first performance was in August 1870 at the Birmingham Triennial Festival, conducted by the composer. It predates all his work with W. S...

, as specified below:

Scene 1
  • Opening Dance – (The Mikado
    The Mikado
    The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...

    ; Trial by Jury
    Trial by Jury
    Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...

    ; Patience
    Patience (opera)
    Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. First performed at the Opera Comique, London, on 23 April 1881, it moved to the 1,292-seat Savoy Theatre on 10 October 1881, where it was the first theatrical production in the...

    ; The Sorcerer
    The Sorcerer
    The Sorcerer is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duo's third operatic collaboration. The plot of The Sorcerer is based on a Christmas story, An Elixir of Love, that Gilbert wrote for The Graphic magazine in 1876...

    ; The Gondoliers
    The Gondoliers
    The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances , closing on 30 June 1891...

    )
  • Poll's Solo and Pas de Deux – (The Gondoliers; Patience)
  • Belaye's Solo – (Patience; Cox and Box
    Cox and Box
    Cox and Box; or, The Long-Lost Brothers, is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by F. C. Burnand and music by Arthur Sullivan, based on the 1847 farce Box and Cox by John Maddison Morton. It was Sullivan's first successful comic opera. The story concerns a landlord who lets a room to two...

    )
  • Pas de trois – (The Mikado; The Pirates of Penzance
    The Pirates of Penzance
    The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...

    ; Ruddigore
    Ruddigore
    Ruddigore; or, The Witch's Curse, originally called Ruddygore, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas and the tenth of fourteen comic operas written together by Gilbert and Sullivan...

    )
  • Finale – (Patience; The Pirates of Penzance; Ruddigore; Iolanthe
    Iolanthe
    Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....

    )


Scene 2
  • Poll's Solo – (Iolanthe)
  • Jasper's Solo – (Princess Ida
    Princess Ida
    Princess Ida; or, Castle Adamant is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was their eighth operatic collaboration of fourteen. Princess Ida opened at the Savoy Theatre on January 5, 1884, for a run of 246 performances...

    )


Scene 3
  • Belaye's Solo and Sailors' Drill – (Princess Ida; The Gondoliers)
  • Poll's Solo – (Ruddigore)
  • Entrance of Belaye, with Blanche as Bride – (The Yeomen of the Guard
    The Yeomen of the Guard
    The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888, and ran for 423 performances...

    ; Trial by Jury; Iolanthe)
  • Reconciliation – (Ruddigore)
  • Grand Finale – (The Mikado; Trial by Jury; H.M.S. Pinafore
    H.M.S. Pinafore
    H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...

    ; Patience; Princess Ida; The Pirates of Penzance; Overture di Ballo
    Overture di Ballo
    The Overture di Ballo is a concert overture by Arthur Sullivan. Its first performance was in August 1870 at the Birmingham Triennial Festival, conducted by the composer. It predates all his work with W. S...

    ; The Yeomen of the Guard)

External links

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